Not caring whether the husband lives or dies. Someone come here! Hurry, come here! Abuse!
Look at that, just look at that.
When he needed something, he was practically smiling from ear to ear.
Lu Hanbai gave a light snort. Although he didn’t like Jiang Queyun, the person had become well-behaved, so there was no need to loathe him as before, but he still needed to keep a constant eye on him to prevent him from relapsing into his old ways.
“What kind of medicinal herbs are those?” Lu Hanbai asked.
Jiang Queyun’s eyes lit up. Hurriedly handing over what he was holding and putting it down, he led Lu Hanbai over to that pile of already sun-dried medicinal herbs and smiled. “These clumped ones are madder root, good for cooling blood, stopping bleeding, and promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis. Those other clumped ones are black thoroughwax, which can treat wind-cold. That is about all I know.”
He had only heard the director grandma mention a few things when he was little and had tagged along to dig them up, but he didn’t know much beyond that.
Anyway, as long as they could be sold for money, that was fine.
Lu Hanbai’s dark eyebrows arched slightly. Thinking of something, he asked, “You’ve dug up so many. Didn’t anyone else in the village dig them up?”
Failing to catch the probing tone in his words, Jiang Queyun was entirely filled with the urge to show off his skills. “Common ones might be known, but these probably aren’t. Otherwise, the entire mountainside would have been dug bare long ago.”
“Understood. Tomorrow, rise early and head to town.” Lu Hanbai didn’t ask any further. If the other man was willing to do this, let him do it, as long as he had the ability to support himself, that was enough.
“Alright, alright, you’ve really been working hard. I’ll go make dinner right now!” Without a second word, Jiang Queyun plunged headfirst into the stove shed, only to poke his head back out a moment later. “Husband, this fire…”
“Coming.” Lu Hanbai walked toward him.
So much for having skills. He couldn’t even get a fire going.
The things Lu Hanbai had bought back were all wrapped in oiled paper, and Jiang Queyun unwrapped each large and small package.
There was nice pork belly, several large soup bones, a piece of pork back fat used for rendering lard, as well as rice, flour, grain, cooking oil, and so on.
To think he could still buy all these things when he was broke. He really didn’t know how to economize. But that was fine, he wasn’t someone who was frugal either, heh.
Figuring he would stew the soup first, Jiang Queyun held the knife and measured the soup bones left and right, finally shifting his gaze of appeal to Lu Hanbai.
He used to buy them already chopped at the supermarket. This was getting a bit difficult for him.
“Husband.”
An affected, sugary voice with trills rang out.
Lu Hanbai shuddered violently, his expression sinking a bit more. He had never seen such an annoying creature.
Taking the knife from him, he cleanly and efficiently chopped the soup bones into appropriate small pieces. Fearing the other man might ask for help again, he simply stood nearby and waited for a moment.
Jiang Queyun frowned. “Standing there like a pillar, you’re blocking my footing.”
Are you a giant wooden post or what?
Lu Hanbai: “…”
With a cold face, Lu Hanbai walked away. It would be just his luck if he was angered to death.
Jiang Queyun then began to cook. Granted, while this family was poor, the necessary items were quite complete, even having several pots. If not for the dilapidated state of their dwelling, they probably lived better than quite a few families in the village.
Rinsing the tubular marrow bones several times, he put them into the pot to blanch and skimmed off the foam. Lacking cooking wine at the moment, he simply poured in some white liquor to remove the fishy smell, sliced wild onions and added them into the pot to stew, then sprinkled in a little salt to enhance the freshness.
The bone soup needed to simmer for a while, so this pot was left alone for now.
Immediately afterward, he began preparing the actual meal they were going to eat.
Accustomed to being the head chef, Jiang Queyun cooked whatever ingredients were available, making sure it was something he liked to eat. The early morning still held a trace of coolness, so he figured he would simply make flatbreads and batter soup.
Other people’s opinions didn’t matter.
Making flatbreads was something he had learned from the older sisters at the orphanage. After kneading the dough well and letting it rest for a short while, he started cutting it into portions and rolling out the dough.
The other pot was also heated up, wiped with a light ring of oil, and the large dough cake was placed inside.
Before long, the fragrance of oil and flatbread began to waft out, and a large flatbread, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, was finished. He casually placed it onto a bamboo cover handed over by Lu Hanbai, inwardly marveling that this guy actually had some situational awareness.
Continuously rolling out dough cakes, pressing them onto the pan, and flipping the dough cakes would result in a Jiang Queyun who was practically roasting himself like a hot dog.
Stepping away from the small shed to catch a breath, his eyes slightly reddened from the heat, he rested for a brief moment before diving headfirst back in.
“I’ll take over,” Lu Hanbai said, taking the spatula from his hand and skillfully, if not quite expertly, flipping the flatbreads. “You go over there and roll out the dough.”
Without standing on ceremony with him, Jiang Queyun offered a detailed reminder, “I like mine well-done, a bit charred is fine too. If you guys don’t like it that way, take them out earlier.”
Giving a soft acknowledgment, Lu Hanbai left the flatbread in the pan a little longer.
Though the household wasn’t large, everyone had a healthy appetite. Since the weather wasn’t unbearably hot yet and food could keep for a bit, Jiang Queyun made ten flatbreads, which should be enough to last a couple of days.
The batter soup was even easier to make. Water was poured directly into the oily pan to boil, dough pieces were dropped in, a handful of greens was scattered across, and a pinch of salt was added for seasoning, completing a piping-hot pot of batter soup.
Serving himself a portion of food, Jiang Queyun sat down at the table to eat. Lu Hanbai brought Lu Yu’s portion to him and sat down opposite Jiang Queyun.
The two ate quietly, in a silence that felt strange and eerie.
Frowning slightly, Jiang Queyun figured this might cause indigestion. Rolling his eyes thoughtfully, he asked, “Are you not going out on trade caravans anymore?”
For one thing, sitting face-to-face felt a bit awkward. For another, since Lu Yu was going to study, surely they needed to make money?
He had no desire to live a destitute life. He had truly had enough of those days in the past. To put it bluntly, he was terrified of poverty.
Having long noticed Jiang Queyun rolling his eyes around and expecting him to say something outrageous, Lu Hanbai was surprised to hear him ask such a question.
Producing the reasoning he had prepared long ago, he replied, “Times are not peaceful outside right now, and trade caravans don’t earn much silver anyway. The money I earned this trip is intended to send A-yu to school.”
“Studying is a good thing. He should study.” Jiang Queyun accepted this readily, then immediately shifted the topic. “What about me? You can’t just look after your son and ignore me, can you?”
“You?” Lu Hanbai’s eyes widened slightly.
Jiang Queyun widened his eyes even more, looking at him in terror. “Your family takes in a husband, and doesn’t care whether the husband lives or dies of hunger?”
Someone come here! Hurry, come here! Spousal abuse!
Seeing his expression of mingled shock and uncertainty, Lu Hanbai almost laughed out loud.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “You don’t need to worry about silver. I have my own strength to work with. As long as you behave yourself, I certainly won’t treat you unfairly.”
“That’s fine then.” Jiang Queyun was satisfied.
He knew protagonists always had encounters with fortune, and temporary destitution didn’t matter at all. What mattered was that the protagonist gong was willing to share a piece of the pie with him, which was quite enough for him!
Easily appeased, Jiang Queyun finished eating and pushed his bowl away. “I’m going back into the mountain to dig up some more medicinal herbs. You stay home. The soup in the pot needs to stew for another half hour, that is, two quarters of an hour! Remember to let Lu Yu drink some. I’m heading out.”
“Snakes and insects run rampant. Be careful,” Lu Hanbai said.
“Got it.” Slinging his small bamboo basket over his shoulder, Jiang Queyun set off.
No one else in the village dug madder root because madder root rasped the mouth, and even livestock wouldn’t eat it. Consequently, those madder roots were quite old, and every clump dug up possessed a thick, heavy root mass that felt substantial when weighed.
Diligently digging away, his fingernails became grimy from dealing with the leaves. However, due to his abnormal pain perception, his fingertips didn’t feel any stinging sensation.
Before long, he had dug up another basketful.
With plenty of sunlight today, if he let them dry for a whole day, they would surely dry out completely, and tomorrow he could take them all to town to sell!
Avoiding overly secluded places, he did encounter villagers from North River Village along the way, but none of them cared to pay him any mind. Since it was all the original owner’s doing, he had nothing to say to that.
Not particularly fond of socializing with others anyway, Jiang Queyun headed home before the sun grew too fierce.
Every time he saw the dilapidated thatched cottage, a sense of powerlessness would well up inside him. Making money was a matter of extreme urgency!
“Need any help?” Lu Hanbai asked.
Though the two were husbands, it was merely a title used for outsiders, and invisibly, they were little different from strangers. Their speech and actions still required a measure of caution.
After all, Jiang Queyun would surely remarry one day.
Not someone who liked to rely on others, Jiang Queyun didn’t even raise his head. “I can handle these little chores myself. Did your son drink the soup?”
“He drank it. You, Jiang Queyun, your neck is bleeding,” Lu Hanbai said, unable to resist a jab. “Did you sneak behind someone’s back and slit your own throat?”
“Is there?” Reaching up, Jiang Queyun felt the back of his neck and indeed touched some bloodstains.
Acting as if it were nothing, he casually wiped it away, clearing off the blood without feeling a shred of pain, figuring the wound couldn’t be very serious.
Seeing him behave this way, Lu Hanbai raised an eyebrow and said no more. Country folks were rough like this, and wouldn’t care about a few minor scratches.
Trimming off the green leaves of the herbs, Jiang Queyun left only the fuzzy root clumps, which ended up spread out across a large area.
Curious, Lu Hanbai watched. “If you take these to sell, how many copper coins per tael do they go for?”
“I actually don’t know.” Jiang Queyun looked slightly troubled. Back in his old world it used to sell for eighty-five per catty, but he had no idea here. “I’ll ask around at a few medicine shops, and sell to whichever one offers the highest price.”
Since he was just trying to make some quick pocket money anyway and it wasn’t a long-term business, he would take whatever he could get for now.
Silently accepting this explanation, Lu Hanbai wanted to see just how far Jiang Queyun could take this.
Spreading the herbal roots out under the sun, which was quite good today, they should be thoroughly dried by the end of the day, making it just right to take them to town to sell together tomorrow.
“There are still plenty of flatbreads left. Should we make stir-fried shredded flatbread or stir-fried vegetables?” Jiang Queyun asked.
Knowing he wasn’t someone who asked questions lightly, asking now meant he must be unsure what to eat.
“Stir-fried flatbread. It’s more convenient,” Lu Hanbai said.
Nodding, Jiang Queyun fetched water to wash up and changed into a clean set of clothes. However, the pile of dirty laundry in the corner presented a dilemma. Since there were no washing machines here, washing clothes meant going down to the river, which would inevitably lead to running into villagers.
The mere thought gave him a headache.
Yet with the weather being so hot, not washing them wasn’t an option.
“Jiang Queyun, the stove fire is ready.”
“Coming!”
Hurrying over, he started cooking while thinking that he seemed to be accepting all of this far too quickly. More importantly, Lu Hanbai would subject him to military suppression, so compliance was mandatory.
Stir-fried flatbreads were indeed much more convenient, and Jiang Queyun whipped them up quickly, not forgetting to boil a pot of rice porridge, making just enough for them to consume today, fearing it might spoil if kept too long.
After finishing their meal, Jiang Queyun began pondering the laundry issue.
“Husband.”
Shuddering at the goosebumps, Lu Hanbai said, “Speak.”
Putting on a bright smile, Jiang Queyun asked, “Shall we go wash some clothes?”
With Lu Hanbai accompanying him, surely no one would dare bully him.